Hold Back The Hands Of Time

Bicycling Helps Couple Stay Fit And Trim

September 10, 1989|By MARK ST. JOHN ERICKSON Staff Writer

JAMES CITY (COUNTY) — Don and Betty Todd don't look much like your average septuagenarian couple. They seem a little straighter and a little more robust than most. They smile and talk and move with a healthy glow.

Outside, parked on the porch of their College Creek home, is the primary reason for the difference: two well-equipped, well-cared-for bicycles, veterans of miles on the open road.

"We started riding bikes in our 20s, before we were married, because I couldn't afford a car," Don says. "Then we found out it was fun."

"But we're not into Senior Olympics or anything like that," Betty says, laughing. "We're just into keeping up - you know - keeping fit."

The Todds moved to the Williamsburg Landing retirement community four years ago. They came from Cleveland, where Don, now 75, had worked his way up to become president of a large school supply distributorship. Betty kept the house and raised two kids.

Physical activity always played a big part in their lives. As young adults, they especially liked badminton and hit the court regularly at least twice or three times a week. They usually played vigorously for two hours. "It was a real workout," says Betty, now 74. "There was nothing like badminton to release all your stress and tension."

Bicycling became their passion after the kids grew up and left home. Although they were in their 50s, the couple began riding regularly every day, covering as much as 50 or 60 miles on Sundays. They also began taking week-long tours of 200 to 300 miles.

Combined with their regular games of tennis, the bicycling workouts gave both of them the unmistakable feeling of youth. "We had our finest hours in our 50s. We were as good then as we had been at 20," Don says. "Now, with both of us in our 70s, we're happy to be as fit as most 50-year-olds."

The Todds gave up touring in their late 60s in order to take care of an elderly relative. They simply didn't have time, they explain, to train for the longer rides.

The couple remains physically active, however, despite surgery on Bob's knee several years ago and Betty's bout with tendonitis. They started and still run a daily Aquasize class at the retirement community's pool. And they still ride their bikes on short day-trips to such places as the Yorktown Battlefield.

Both admit it's a little harder to get going now than it used to be. But the difference in mobility, agility, endurance and mental sharpness is worth the extra effort.

"It makes you feel that you're not so old if you can still handle the physical part," Betty says. "You notice everything is more difficult when you haven't been active, especially the way you handle stress."